


The Fun Run

by RedParrot



Series: The Greater Good - Part Two [17]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Heat mentioned, M/M, Miscarriage Mentioned, Mpreg mentioned, Omegaverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 08:21:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30103053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedParrot/pseuds/RedParrot
Summary: The family enjoy a day out. Henry gets a lesson about the ways of the world.
Series: The Greater Good - Part Two [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738087
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	The Fun Run

**Author's Note:**

> This is very light. It is told from the children's perspective, something I've not done before, but it was oh so much fun to write!

Breakfast was ready when Peter reached the kitchen. He had raced Henry down the stairs. But his brother had lost. His little brother looked angry. Peter grinned at him as they pulled their chairs out and sat down.

Today was the day of the fun run. Daniel had read about it in the news. There were going to be lots of races for people to do. Daniel and Meg were going to do the grown-up’s race. Peter was going to do the children's race with Mary, George, and Henry. Even the twin girls were going to do a race.

Peter had looked out of the window when they woke up. There were no clouds and that meant it would not rain. Jamie had told him that was ideal weather for running. 

'I'm going to win when we have the proper race,' said Henry.

'But I'm faster than you,' Peter replied. 'I'm older so I'll beat you.'

Daniel put their breakfasts in front of them.

'It doesn't matter who is the fastest. It's a fun run. Fun,’ said Daniel with a smile.

Peter looked at Henry who was frowning again. Henry frowned a lot. He frowned whenever he lost. He frowned at the toddlers. But mostly he frowned at Toby.

Toby was their newest brother. He was still a tiny baby even though he had been born ages ago. He could not do much and had to be carried everywhere. Toby was boring. 

The twin girls had been boring to start with, but they were able to walk around now. They laughed when Peter made faces or did silly things. Peter had not liked Isabelle and Rachel when he first met them. He hoped Toby would become more interesting soon. And Toby was a boy, and boys were better than girls. 

‘George,’ said Daniel as Peter’s twin walked in, ‘I spoke to Liam last night and he’s going to meet us there. He said he’d love to enter the race with you.’

George smiled and thanked Daniel. He pulled out the chair next to Peter and sat down. Peter knew his brother had been a bit worried he would not have anyone to enter the fun run with. All the children, apart from Mary, had to have adults with them for the fun run. Peter knew he would be fine on his own, but Jamie had told him that it was a rule. Peter did not like rules. At least not all the time. 

‘Who is going to run with me?’ asked Henry. ‘I want Jamie to run with me.’

‘Jamie’s running with me,’ Peter reminded Henry. 

‘We’ll work it out,’ said Daniel. ‘Meg or I can run with you.’

Henry frowned and picked up his fork and started to eat his eggs. 

‘Are you and Meg going to race when you do your run?’ asked Peter. ‘Are you going to beat Meg?’

Daniel had gone back to the kitchen area and was busy making tea and coffee for the grown-ups. 

‘I probably would be able to beat Meg,’ said Daniel, ‘but only because I go out running more often. But we’re going to run together. We’re not racing. We want to enjoy it.’

‘I’m going to race,’ said Henry. ‘I’m going to be the fastest.’

They all ignored Henry. Peter loved his brother, but not when he was showing off or trying to be the centre of attention. 

A tapping sound came from the sitting room. Peter knew that meant Clive was coming. He wondered why Clive sometimes slept in his room and sometimes did not. He was sure Clive sometimes went to bed in Meg’s bedroom. But no one ever said anything about it. Peter was sure he was the only one of the children that had noticed that Clive slept in different places. He sometimes thought he should say something, but never did. 

‘Who’s ready for a race then?’ Clive asked as he came into the room. ‘Not me. Unless there are lots of other people with broken legs.’

The boys giggled. Apart from George who looked concerned.

‘You mustn’t race,’ he said.

Peter could tell his brother was worried. He could feel the worry. 

Clive smiled, ‘don’t worry, George I won’t race. I’ll be good. And someone has to help Sammy look after the girls and Toby.’

‘Is Sammy going to do the toddlers race with the girls?’ asked Daniel as he handed Clive a cup of tea.

Clive nodded, ‘he wants to. We’ll just have to hope they are both willing to walk in a straight line.’

‘It’s only 200 meters,’ laughed Daniel.

Meg came in with Mary. They were wearing their running clothes, ready for the race later that morning. 

‘You got fuel for me, Danny?’ Meg asked as she picked up her mug of coffee.

‘I have poached eggs on toast, which I believe is what madam ordered?’ replied Daniel.

‘Cheeky,’ muttered Meg as she slapped Daniel on the arm. 

Peter did not always understand the way the grown-ups talked to each other. They said things that did not make sense. He also did not understand what Isabelle and Rachel said to each other. They spoke in a strange way, that only they understood. 

The twins walked in. They did not walk very well. They sort of stumbled to the side and danced around. Jamie was walking behind them. He picked them up, one at a time, and plonked them in their highchairs. Rachel giggled and Isabelle made some strange noises. 

‘Sammy’s just coming, he said you can plate his breakfast up. He’s just finishing feeding Toby.’

Daniel grinned. Daniel grinned a lot when they talked about Toby. 

‘Eat up lads,’ said Daniel as he put his own breakfast on the table and sat down. ‘You need the energy for your races later on.’

A~B~O

George was a bit scared. He was not used to so many people being around at the same time. He always stayed close to the grown-ups when they went into town. It was different from being at school. When he was at school, he was with lots of other children. He could play with his friends and then learn things.

He slipped his hand into Liam’s who squeezed it. His Omega smiled at him. Liam was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, like most of the people who were going to be in the races. George was wearing blue shorts and his favourite yellow t-shirt. 

‘There’s a lot of people here,’ said Liam. ‘We’ll have to watch the children.’

Sammy nodded. Sammy was pushing the pram with the baby in. Toby was asleep. Daniel was looking after Isabelle and Rachel who were walking slowly across the field that was being used as a car park. They had special harnesses on so that Daniel could stop them from running off. Rachel had already fallen over twice, laughing both times as Daniel pulled her back up using the harness. 

Peter, Henry, and Mary were walking a bit ahead of them. Henry was still saying he was going to win the race. George was not sure if he wanted Henry to win or not. If he did not win, he would cry. Sammy had told him that Henry sometimes forgets he is younger than his brothers and that they should not tease him. George would not be mean to Henry, but he knew Peter sometimes said things to upset him. Mary did as well. 

Mary had been mean to George on the day that Toby was born. She had pushed him over. George still had some marks on his arm where he had scratched it. But his sister had said sorry, and they were friends again. 

Meg and Jamie walked up to them. Jamie looked annoyed, he glanced back to the tent where they had to go enter the races. 

‘We’ve registered everyone for their races… but there’s a problem with Henry.’

Henry looked up. George could tell he was worried. 

‘What?’ asked Sammy.

‘He’s too young for the two-kilometre race.’

‘But… but that’s not fair,’ said Henry loudly, before crying.

Jamie crouched in front of him and shook his head.

‘I know, Henry, I’m sorry. We should have checked before we came.’

‘I want to run the race.’

‘You’re not allowed to Henry,’ Jamie said.

Henry kept crying. George went over to him and hugged him. Jamie was rubbing his arm. 

‘There’s other races for the young children-’

‘I’m not doing the race with the smelly girls.’

George let go of Henry. He always got annoyed when Henry called the younger children smelly. None of them was smelly. George thought the babies all smelled lovely when he helped to bath them. 

‘Henry,’ Jamie said. ‘Henry, look at me. You don’t need to do the toddler’s race. You’re a big boy now. You’re just not big enough to be in the two-kilometre race. You could do the sack race.’

Henry looked at Jamie with a frown.

‘Don’t want to.’

‘You’d enjoy it. You have to get into a sack and jump around the field. There’ll be other children doing the race as well.’

‘Will I win?’

Jamie laughed, ‘I don’t know. But you can try.’

Henry thought for a few seconds before he nodded.

‘Good job I’ve already entered you in the race then,’ said Jamie with a smile.

George was aware of Sammy feeling happy. The Omega had felt worried but when Henry decided he would be in the sack race Sammy felt better. 

‘Let’s find a good spot to watch the races start,’ suggested Clive who had caught them up.

‘You alright walking across this?’ asked Daniel who was pointing at the bumpy ground.

‘I’ll manage if I take it slow,’ replied Clive. 'You could get me a harness like the girls have?'

'Don't tempt me,' laughed Daniel. 

George could tell Clive’s leg was hurting him. Sometimes the grown-ups lied to each other even though they all knew it was a lie. George found it confusing. But then, a lot of what the grown-ups did was confusing. 

Meg walked beside Clive, she slipped her arm around his waist, ‘I’m your guardian and if I want to help you… you can’t stop me.’

‘Well,’ said Clive, ‘if you put it like that…’

A strange scent came off Clive. George thought it was a bit like the feelings that Daniel and Jamie had towards Sammy. But it could not be that. Not coming from Clive. Not towards Meg.

Meg helped Clive to the top of the field. George knew the field was used as a cricket pitch. A rope fence was around the middle of the field to stop people from going onto the bit where the cricket people ran up and down. 

Liam and Meg were both holding fold up chairs. George knew they were for Sammy and Clive to use whilst the rest of them were doing their races. Sammy had also packed a large green patterned blanket and a box of snacks which had been tucked into the carrying bit of the pram. 

Sammy, Clive, and Liam lay out the blanket and a few toys for the twin girls. Meg and Daniel walked across the field to a big curved blow-up tube with the word ‘Start’ on one side and ‘Finish’ on the other. The boys had sat with Jamie the previous day and he had shown them the route that the grown-ups were going to run on. They were running five kilometres.

‘How long will it take them to run their race?’ asked Henry. ‘Will they be back for the sack race?’

Henry was jumping up and down as he spoke. Once the rules of the sack race had been explained to him, he had stopped frowning and become excited. 

‘The sack race is the last race,’ said Sammy, who had a list of the times for all the races. ‘So, they’ll be back for that. They'll miss the two-kilometre race though.’

Henry shrugged his shoulders. George could tell he was not bothered if Daniel and Meg missed everyone else's race. 

‘Looks like they’re about to start,' said Liam.

Liam led him, Peter, and Mary a little closer. Henry was still jumping up and down he was holding Jamie’s hand.

‘You’ll wear yourself out,’ said Liam.

‘No, I won’t,’ replied Henry.

George thought he probably would.

A loud horn sounded, and the five kilometres race began. George watched as some of the women took the lead. They were running faster than anyone else and were soon ahead of everyone. Then the fast Alpha’s ran passed with the slower women. George was sure he spotted a couple of Omega mixed in with them. He knew there was some Omega who went out running but they were not usually as fast as the women and the Alphas. 

Meg and Daniel waved as they passed. George waved back and cheered along with everyone else. He felt excited. The runners did a loop of the field and then ran out through a gate onto the road and disappeared. 

‘How long will it take before the winner comes back?’ asked Peter.

‘The winner last year finished in twenty-three minutes,' said Liam. 'I think there are a couple of hills they have to run up and down.’

‘Jamie showed us the route yesterday,’ said Peter. ‘I want to do it when I’m old enough.’

‘I’m going to do it too,’ said Henry who had stopped jumping and was kneeling on the grass. ‘And I’m going to win.’

‘I’d like to be like Hiari Mwangi,’ said Mary. ‘I learned about her at school. She’s from Kenya and she’s the fastest runner in the world.’

George could feel that Jamie was proud of Mary. Jamie liked it when his children talked about what they wanted to be when they were grown-ups. 

As the last of the runners left the field a general excitement filled the atmosphere. Some of the women hurried off. Jamie had told them that people liked to find good spots to watch the runners going past. He guessed that was what the women were doing, or they were going to the finish area for the five-kilometre race. He thought it would be fun to cheer the runners on.

But George was about to start the two-kilometre race. He had practised running a long way a few times. Although, he was still nervous. Peter and Mary could manage the distance. Henry had come close. George had needed to walk a little bit each time. Jamie told him that was fine. Taking part was more important than winning, even if Henry did not understand that.

The two-kilometre race was going to start and finish in the same place. The route was a loop of the cricket field and the big field next to it. 

George watched some of the older girls and boys running up and down in a similar way to the grown-ups before their race. Daniel had told them runners did that to warm up before a race. George did not understand why they needed to do that as the runners would get hot when they started to run anyway. 

Henry was feeling a bit upset again but trying not to show it. George felt a bit sorry for his younger brother, but if there was a rule that said four-and-a-half-year-olds could not run then Henry could not. George would not want Henry told off for being naughty. 

And the sack race sounded fun. 

A lady on a loudspeaker told them they needed to line up.

George waved to Sammy, Clive, and the younger children. The twins were sitting on the blanket banging plastic cups together. Toby was asleep in his pram.

Henry jumped back over to them. He started to jump on the blanket but was told to stop by Sammy. George could feel Henry getting annoyed. He was probably frowning again.

Mary and Peter ran ahead of them as they walked across the field. George preferred to stay with Liam. He enjoyed time with his Omega. 

Sometimes the grown-ups talked to each other and forgot the children were there. George liked listening to what the grown-ups said.

'It's good news about the forming of new families with the young lads,' said Liam.

Jamie nodded, 'Graham got quite tearful when Meg told him and Callum that they would be able to stay together.'

Liam laughed, 'my strong Alpha boy crying.'

'It was Callum who took it like an adult and asked how they would find a second Alpha.'

'The practical Omega. We are the better sex.'

'Absolutely,' said Jamie. 'I can't count the number of times you or Sammy has been the voice of reason.'

George always thought that being an Omega was special. They were the ones that had the babies and that was very important. He looked forward to being able to have babies. He hoped he would be a good parent the same way Liam and Sammy were. He liked the idea of babies growing inside him. He rested his hand on his stomach and tried to imagine what it would feel like. Alphas were sometimes a bit loud. At least Peter and Henry were. Daniel and Jamie sometimes tried to outdo each other when they were playing football in the garden. George wondered if Jamie would have liked to enter the five-kilometre race as well as Daniel. Jamie would probably have won.

‘Have you heard anything from Thomas?’ asked Jamie. ‘I know he’s not your son, but you’re probably the closest thing he’s got to an Omega parent.’

George knew that Thomas was pregnant. He had heard the grown-ups talking about it a few weeks before. He remembered seeing Thomas in the hospital. Thomas had walked into a door and cut his head. Jamie had talked to Thomas for a few minutes but there had been all sorts of strange scents going around. George had got the impression Thomas was lying. But George also thought that Thomas was scared and lying to hide something. George did not always understand grown-ups.

‘He’s been in touch a couple of times asking if the effects of the pregnancy he’s suffering are normal, but nothing else. I don’t think Michael hears from him much either,’ said Liam.

Jamie shook his head but did not say anything. George could feel that his Alpha was worried. Perhaps he was nervous about the race?

They had reached the start line and were told they had a minute to wait before the race would begin. 

‘Mary,’ said Jamie. ‘When you finish, I want you to go straight back to Sammy and Clive. Don’t wander off. Clive said he might come over to the finish line to see you in and get a couple of pictures.’

Mary nodded before moving a little further forward with the other girls that were running. George knew that Mary would be a bit quicker than Peter. Jamie had told them that they were all in different groups. The girls were a group and then the Alphas and the Omegas were two more groups. Each group would have a winner. George did not expect to win his group; he had already seen a couple of older Omega who looked like they could run fast. He hoped Mary and Peter won though.

‘You ready?’ asked Liam who looked excited about the race. 

George nodded, ‘I’ll try not to walk at all,’ he said.

‘I think,’ said Liam, ‘that if we don’t go too fast at the start, we should be alright running the whole way. That’s going to be our challenge.’

George nodded. He liked that idea. He was not keen to race against other people, he would feel sorry for the people who were slower than him. That did not seem fair. 

The lady on the loudspeaker told them they had ten seconds and started to count backwards. They all joined in and cheered when they reached zero and the loud horn sounded to start the race. 

A~B~O

Henry jumped up and down a few times. He jumped as far as he could and as high as he could. He was sure he was going to win the sack race. 

After they had watched the others go passed on their run Henry had gone back to practising his jumping. He was a bit annoyed when Clive said they had to watch Sammy and the twins do their silly race.

Clive was pushing the pram with Toby in it. Henry had to walk next to him. He was not allowed to jump any more. 

Sammy was holding the twins’ hands as they walked to the start line. Lots of other Omega were going to the start line with their twins. 

‘They’ll all sleep well tonight,’ Clive said. ‘Even Jamie and Daniel.’

Sammy laughed, ‘as long as Danny is recovered for our heat next month, I’m sure it will be fine.’

Henry did not fully understand what a heat was. He knew Sammy needed to have some private time with either Daniel or Jamie and that sometimes they made a baby afterwards. He remembered Mary saying that Daniel and Jamie were hurting Sammy when they had their private time. But Peter had told her she was lying. Henry knew that he was an Alpha like Daniel and Jamie, but he did not want to have any private time with an Omega. It did not sound fun. He did not think he would be allowed to practice his jumping or play with his toy crabs. 

Rachel was pointing up. Henry looked where she pointed. A big black bird was flying over them.

‘Bird.’

‘Yes, Rachel,’ said Sammy with a smile. ‘That’s a bird. Well done.’

Henry frowned. The twins always got told they were good when they said things. Henry did not get told he was good when he said things. And he could say lots of things. Sometimes the grown-ups told him he needed to stop saying things. Grown-ups were silly. 

There were a few Omega and Alpha parents on the start line with their twins. They all looked happy. Rachel and Isabelle were doing that talking thing that no one understood again. They would talk to each other, but it did not make sense. But the grown-ups thought it was lovely. 

‘Young man,’ said a tall thin woman, who had been talking on the loudspeaker.

Henry looked up at her. She was the oldest woman he had ever seen. Apart from Phoebe who came to visit them. Henry liked Phoebe; she bought cakes with her. 

As the woman spoke to him Henry could feel that Clive was scared. Clive was often scared of women. Henry was not sure why. He wondered if it had something to do with the time he went away for ages and everyone was sad, and they were told he was not going to come back. 

‘Are we in the way?’ Clive asked the woman. ‘We’ll move-’

‘No,’ laughed the woman. ‘I just wondered if your son would like to start the race for us. I need a volunteer to press the button and make the horn go off.’

The woman smiled at Henry who suddenly felt very important. He looked at Clive who was watching the woman.

‘He’s not my Omega,’ Henry told the woman. ‘My Omega is Sammy and he’s got to take my smelly sisters on the race.’

Henry pointed at Sammy who was looking in their direction. Sammy looked a little worried. The woman smiled again.

‘Sorry,’ she said to Clive. ‘You must by Clive.’

She pointed at Clive’s walking stick. Clive looked scared. 

‘I’m progressive,’ whispered the woman. ‘I was appalled at what happened to you.’

Clive nodded and smiled. Henry knew the smile was a lie. He could still feel that Clive was scared. 

‘So,’ the woman said looking at Henry again. ‘Would you like to press the button. It’s a very loud noise.’

Henry nodded. The woman held out her hand. He reached up but stopped before they held hands and looked at Clive again. Clive nodded.

‘It’s OK, Henry,’ he said. 

Henry let the woman take him to the other side of the big tube and got him to stand on a box. She gave him the horn. 

‘When I say so, you need to press that button.’

Henry nodded. He was very important and would do what he had been asked. 

The woman picked up a microphone and started to speak.

‘And now we have the toddlers’ race,’ she said. ‘There is a prize for every toddler. We don’t want any tears.’

Some of the people watching laughed. Henry did not understand what they were laughing at.

‘If there are any parents who want a hand with their twins then that’s fine. I’ve seen some of them, little devils I suspect.’

There was more laughing. Henry saw a couple of people wave another grown up over to the start line. 

‘Is everyone ready?’

They all cheered.

‘The finish line is at the corner of the field,’ the woman pointed to some people who waved. ‘Henry is going to start the race,’ the woman pointed at Henry who smiled. ‘Ready Henry?’

Henry nodded and held up the horn.

‘We’ll do a countdown. Five… Four…’

All the people joined in. Henry was shaking a little bit, he wanted to do his job right.

‘Three… Two…’

Henry made sure his fingers were on the button.

‘ONE!’

The woman looked at him and nodded. Henry pressed the button and gasped at how noisy the horn was. Everyone cheered and started to walk around the field. Henry saw Sammy leading his sisters. Sammy was smiling, he looked at Henry. Henry could feel that Sammy was happy.

‘Well done, Henry,’ said the woman. ‘Are you doing the sack race in a little while?’

Henry nodded.

‘Well, good luck.’

Henry jumped off the box and ran back to Clive who was waiting for him. 

‘I started the race. I’m important,' Henry said.

‘You are. Well done. You’ll have to tell the others about it when they are back. They’ll be jealous.’

Henry grinned. They walked across the field, cutting the corner off so that they could catch up with all the babies that were walking around. Some of the babies were trying to run. Some were falling over. And some were crying. 

Henry thought it was funny. 

A~B~O

Mary knew she could not win the race. There were a few girls who were older than her and faster than her. She also knew that if she did the race again next year she might win. They had run around the cricket field and through the gate into the big field. There were two football pitches in the field and the route they had to run zig-zagged across them. She was able to look across and see everyone that was behind her in the race. There were lots of younger children who had their parents with them. 

She spotted Liam and George who was near the back. They were both laughing about something. Mary noticed the marks on George’s arm. She still felt sad for hurting her brother. But he had been going on and on about Sammy and the new baby. She knew it was wrong to say horrible things about mating, but she wanted him to shut up.

They were taught about sex at school, but Mary was sure what they were told was not how mating really happened. It sounded very scary. But she knew that Jamie and Daniel both loved Sammy and would not want to hurt him. It all confused her. She had asked Meg about it once and she had promised to talk to her about it when she was a little older. 

As Mary turned the next corner, she saw Jamie and Peter not far behind her. They were not holding hands but were running next to each other. Jamie was saying something to Peter. Peter nodded and they both started to run a little faster. Jamie kept looking back. Mary realised that Peter was in the lead of the boys' race. The next boy that was running was several meters behind. She wondered if Peter might win. She knew he was a fast runner.

The course turned again, and she lost sight of her brothers. They were heading back into the main field where the finish line was. As they entered the field Mary looked around. She could see the end of the toddlers' race in the opposite corner. She thought she saw Sammy and the twin girls going over the line. 

There were lots of parents cheering as she headed towards the finish line. There were a few girls in front of her. But Mary was still pleased. She was nowhere near the back and wondered if she might be in the top ten to finish.

She spotted Clive with the pram at the side of the course. He had picked Toby up. Toby was awake and watching the runners going past. Mary waved at them. Clive waved back and pointed at her. Mary was sure Toby did not know what was going on, but the baby smiled anyway.

Jamie had told her that when she was back in the field and could see the finish line she should try to run as fast as possible. She knew it was called a sprint finish. She had seen Hiari Mwangi sprinting at the end of a marathon on the television. Mary pushed herself to run faster. She was only a few meters behind one of the other girls. She aimed to overtake her. The girl, who had a long ponytail that was swishing from side to side, tried to keep up with Mary but could not. 

She could hear Clive shouting her name and cheering. The finish line was only a few meters away. She ran across as fast as she could.

‘And that’s number forty-five coming over the line,’ said the woman on the loudspeaker. ‘That’s Mary Atwood and she finishes seventh…’

Mary smiled. She had made it into the top ten in the girl's race. 

A woman put a medal around her neck and said well done. Mary looked at the medal. It had a picture of a girl running through a finish line and the name of the race and the date around the edge. 

‘Mary,’ called Clive.

Mary walked up to him and showed him the medal.

‘You came seventh,’ said Clive, ‘well done.’

Mary shook her head and pointed to the gate that led to the big field where most of the racecourse was. 

‘I think Peter is going to win the boys race. He’s doing better than I did.’

Clive looked over in time to see Peter and Jamie enter the cricket field. They were ahead of the rest of the Alpha boys. Mary cheered.

Jamie let Peter get ahead of him. A tape was being held across half of the finish line. Some girls were still going through on the other side, but Peter ran towards the tape, he was smiling.

Mary watched Jamie jog over the line after his son, he grabbed Peter and swung him up in the air before hugging him. Jamie looked pleased. A couple of the women went up to them with clipboards and spoke to them both, writing down something.

‘Let’s get back to the others,’ said Clive.

As they walked across the field towards where the chairs and the blanket had been set up Mary saw Meg and Daniel walk across to Peter and hug him. 

‘How far back are George and Liam?’ asked Meg.

Mary pointed towards the gate, ‘they shouldn’t be long now,’ she said. 

‘Shall we go and wait for them by the gate, we can cheer them in?’

Mary nodded.

‘Did you win your race?’ she asked.

Meg laughed, ‘of course not. Danny and I were in the middle somewhere. The hills were steep. What about you?’

‘I came seventh.’

Meg smiled, ‘really? Well done. There were some fast-looking girls. You’ll have to try better next year. But don’t tell the boys I said that. It’s the taking part that counts, not the winning. Unless you’re Henry, and then it’s all about the winning.’

Meg winked at her. Mary laughed. 

She liked it when she got to talk to Meg when none of the males was around. Meg treated her a little bit differently. Mary was sure Meg did not realise she was doing it, but she did. Meg treated her more like a grown-up. Mary liked that. 

There was a couple of Omega standing by the gate waiting. They looked at Meg. One of them moved away a couple of meters. Meg sighed.

‘Let’s just go down here a little bit,’ she said.

They walked a few meters away from the gate and stopped. 

‘Why did we have to move?’ asked Mary.

Meg looked back at the two Omega who were talking to each other and looking over at Meg every so often. 

‘You know that women are in charge,’ Meg said. ‘Well, a lot of males are scared of us or find us intimidating.’

‘But you’re a progressive,’ said Mary. ‘You should tell them that you’re friendly.’

‘Sometimes they’re still scared. And it’s just easier to move away. The last thing I want is for them to be upset. They should be enjoying their day out.’

Mary thought it was unfair. Meg was lovely, even if she said the words that they were not supposed to say sometimes. 

They watched as the Omega’s ran passed. Only the fastest and oldest were running on their own. Most of them had one of their parents with them. Mary had noticed that Omega always seemed to be watched and looked after a bit more than the Alphas and the girls. When she did sex education at school, they were taught that there was only just about enough Omega to keep the species alive. That was why they had to keep trying to have babies. Mary knew that Meg thought that Omega was the most important sex and should not be treated the way they were. Mary was not sure what Meg meant. Sammy and George were looked after very well. She knew Liam had not been treated very well though. There were a lot of things that the adults did that did not make much sense. 

‘There they are,’ said Meg.

George and Liam ran into the field. George’s cheeks were red, but he was smiling. Liam was running next to him.

‘We’ve run the whole way,’ Liam shouted as they went past. 

‘Well done, George,’ Meg shouted back. 

They watched as the pair rounded the field and reached the finish line. They were not last. Mary felt happy for her brother. 

‘I suppose,’ said Meg as they walked back to everyone else, ‘that we’ve all got to cheer Henry on now. You know, ‘cos his race is the most important and he’s going to win it.’

Mary giggled. She often heard the adults laughing at Henry’s antics. She had heard Sammy saying it was probably something to do with him not being a twin. Mary wondered if she would be different if Brian had not died when he was four. And she wondered if baby Toby would turn out the same as Henry. Although he was a twin to start with. 

They reached the rest of the family at the same time as George and Liam. George had been given a medal as well. His medal showed a boy finishing a race. 

‘Once the sack race is done, we’ve been asked to stay for the prize-giving ceremony,’ said Jamie. ‘Peter will get his picture taken for the local news.’

‘I want my picture taken,’ said Henry a little louder than was necessary.

‘You haven’t won a race,’ said Peter.

‘I’m going to win the sack race.’

Mary noticed Sammy and Jamie looking at each other. Sammy looked as though he knew what was going to happen. Mary guessed that Henry was going to have a tantrum and cry. Henry could be quite annoying.

‘We’d best get you to the start line then,’ said Jamie as he took Henry’s hand. 

Henry jumped most of the way across the field. The rest of the family found a spot near the start. The sack race was one lap of the field so Henry would finish in the same place that he started. A pile of light brown sacks was piled up at the side of the track. Jamie picked one up and walked with Henry to the start line. He helped Henry to get in and made sure he had a good grip of the sack. Henry did some practice jumps. Mary thought he did quite well. 

There were eleven entrants to the sack race. All the children were about the same age as Henry although most of them were a little shorter. Mary knew that was because Henry was a single birth and not a twin. 

The children lined up at the start line. Henry was at one end. He was grinning at them.

The old woman that had been doing the talking on the loudspeaker walked out onto the course in front of the children. She had her microphone with her. 

‘Ladies, gentlemen and children,’ she said. ‘Thank you all so much for coming to our fun runs today. We’ve raised a lot of money for the local wildlife sanctuary. If you are on our mailing list, you should receive an email during the week with the final total and a write up about the day. We’ll also release the results of the five k and two k races for those of you with a competitive nature.’

The woman paused as several people laughed and a couple of the women cheered. 

‘If you’ve enjoyed today, you’ll all be pleased to know that the committee intends to make this an annual event.’

There were more cheers. Mary cheered as well.

‘And now we have our last race of the day. The sack race.’

Several of the parents cheered. The children on the start line jumped up and down. 

The woman looked at the clipboard she was holding.

‘We have Sarah and Clare Brown.’

The two girls at the other end of the line to Henry smiled. Mary could work out which Omega and Alpha were their parents. The Alpha was shouting ‘good luck’ to his daughters.

‘Christopher and Charles Davies; Philip and Tracy Wild; Muna and Soham Bakshi.’

The woman read out all the names. Everyone cheered for the children.

‘Henry and… oh,’ the woman paused for a second looking at her clipboard. ‘Just Henry Attwood on his own.’

More cheering. 

Mary looked at Henry who was not smiling anymore. She had noticed that he was listening carefully to everyone having their names read out. Henry was the only one on his own. All the other children were twins, and their twins were standing next to them. Mary thought Henry looked a little bit upset. 

She looked up at the adults. Sammy looked upset as well. Jamie had moved to stand next to him and put his arm around him. Jamie said something quietly to Sammy. Sammy was holding Toby. He squeezed the baby a little closer. Mary was female so she could not feel things the same way males could, but she knew Sammy was upset about something. She wondered if he was upset because Henry was upset about something. 

‘And that’s all our entrants,’ said the old woman. ‘Are you ready?’

Lots of cheering. Henry pulled the sack up slightly and bent down a bit ready to start jumping. He still was not smiling. 

‘Five… Four… Three… Two… One.’

The horn sounded and everyone cheered again. The children started to jump. Henry looked serious and determined. 

Some of the other children fell over. Mary noticed that each time it happened to a boy who had a twin brother, the twin would also react and stop jumping. The girls did not notice. 

Henry was soon in second place behind a girl called Nicola. As they turned towards the finish line Henry stumbled to the ground. Mary thought he would start to cry, but he did not. He still did not look happy. It took him a few seconds to get back to his feet. Mary saw Jamie start to walk towards him but stop as his son started to jump again. There was no chance of him beating Nicola, but he was still ahead of the girl coming up in third place. 

He jumped over the line a few seconds after Nicola. 

Mary realised Henry was crying. He stood in the middle of the track as the other children finished. Jamie ran up to him and crouched down, he put his arms around him and held him close. The old woman walked up to them. Jamie said something and the woman nodded. Jamie walked over to them. 

Sammy, who was still holding Toby, reached out with his free hand to stroke Henry’s arm. 

‘Did you hurt yourself when you fell over?’ he asked with concern. 

Jamie shook his head, ‘I don’t think he did. He won’t tell me what the matter is.’

Henry, who had been cuddled into Jamie looked at Sammy and Toby, he had big tears running down his cheeks. 

‘I’m not a twin.’

Sammy looked at Jamie who frowned and shook his head.

‘We know, Henry,’ said Jamie.

‘Everyone else was a twin.’

‘Most people are twins. You’re special because you’re not,’ said Sammy.

Henry shook his head, ‘Toby’s not a twin. Mary’s not a twin.’

‘I am a twin,’ said Mary, ‘but Brian died when we were young.’ 

She knew they were allowed to talk about Brian. She and Jamie and Liam had been to visit the place his ashes were buried. Jamie had cried and Liam had hugged him. 

Henry was breathing fast and still crying.

‘You’re a big boy now, Henry,’ said Jamie. ‘You don’t need a twin. You’ve got your older brothers.’

Henry shook his head, ‘what about Toby? Toby hasn’t got anyone.’

Mary noticed that Sammy looked like he was going to cry. Daniel moved up to the other side of Sammy. Mary understood that Sammy was supposed to have two babies but one of them died. It was very sad, and Sammy and Daniel were very upset. Henry would not understand that, he must have thought that Toby was like him. 

Henry reached out a hand to Toby and touched his arm. 

‘Can I look after him? Like Peter looks after George? And Isabelle and Rachel play together?’

Sammy looked shocked for a few seconds before he smiled. Mary could see tears in his eyes.

‘Of course, Henry,’ said Sammy. ‘I’m sure Toby would like his big brother to keep an eye out for him.’

Henry sniffed and smiled, before cuddling into Jamie again. 

Sammy looked at Jamie, ‘that is not what I was expecting,’ he said quietly.

Jamie was rubbing Henry’s back, ‘I think all those twins and the way their names were read out made Henry realise he’s unusual. Miss Crane is waiting for us.’

He looked back at the old woman who was busy talking to the other people who had won the races. She looked across at them.

‘Henry,’ said Jamie, ‘are you ready to get your prize for coming second in the sack race?’

Henry nodded. He wiped away the tears with his fingers and smiled.

‘Good,’ said Jamie, ‘come on Peter. You’re needed as well. Looks like you both get your pictures in the news.'

Jamie put Henry down and took his hand. The three Alphas walked back over to the finish area. 

'Who would have thought Henry would have an epiphany during a sack race,' said Liam.

'What's an 'epiphany'?' asked Mary.

Liam smiled, 'he's realised something. Worked something out.'

'He's realised,' said Clive, 'that he's not much different to Toby.'

Sammy was sniffing, Daniel put his arm around him.

'You OK?' he asked.

Sammy nodded, 'sorry, it just brought it all back again. Poor Henry shouldn't feel that he's different and neither should Toby. Or Mary.'

Mary stepped closer to Sammy, 'I'm old enough to understand,' she said. 'Henry is still little.'

All the adults smiled and looked at each other.

'Let's get over there. We won't want to miss them getting their prizes,' said Meg, who grabbed the empty pram and started to walk towards the area where the prize-giving was going to happen. 

They found a spot where they would be able to see Peter and Henry. Clive moved a little closer with his phone, ready to get some photographs. Mary and George stood next to him. George looked very happy.

‘I wonder what they’ll get?’ asked George. 

‘I think it’s free visits to the Wildlife sanctuary,’ said Clive. ‘That will make a fun day out, won’t it?’

George nodded with a grin. Mary knew George would like to see the animals in the sanctuary. She wondered if she could write about the trip for school.

Miss Crane was showing people where they had to stand. 

‘We have the director of the Wildlife Sanctuary here to give out the prizes. Miss Claudia Tyler.’

A younger woman, the same age as Meg took a step forward and waved. She was smiling. Mary could see a table with lots of trophies behind them. Another woman handed Miss Tyler a trophy, she looked at it for a few seconds before looking up and nodding to Miss Crane.

‘First, we have the winners of the sack race,’ said Miss Crane. ‘Tracy Wild was our third-placed jumper.’

A girl walked up. She was holding her Omega’s hand. She looked shy. Miss Tyler handed her the trophy and shook hands with the Omega who looked a little wary as well. Mary was getting used to seeing the Omega looking worried whenever they were near the women. 

Miss Crane got the little girl to stand on the lowest of three boxes that had been set up. The photographer took a couple of pictures. 

‘In second place was Henry Attwood, who did very well considering he had a fall in the finishing straight.’

Jamie walked forward with Henry who still looked a little red from crying. Mary wondered if the crowd of people would think he had been crying because he fell over.

Miss Tyler gave Henry his trophy and stood with him whilst he got his photograph taken standing on the second step. Henry was smiling again and seemed to be enjoying the cheers he was getting from the crowd.

‘And our winner was Nicola Brumpton.’

There was a big cheer as Nicola was led up and collected her trophy. The three winners stood on the boxes for a little while as the photographer took some more pictures. 

As they got down and walked back to their families Miss Crane spoke again.

‘Next, we have the winners of the Omega category for the two-kilometre race-’

Mary could not hear the names of the winners as Henry had run up to them with his trophy. He stopped in front of Sammy who was still holding Toby. Sammy crouched down. Henry held out the trophy to Sammy who took it. 

‘I want Toby to have it,’ said Henry. ‘He can look after it until he’s a big boy and can move up to our rooms upstairs.’

Henry looked at George.

‘I’ve changed my mind about sharing with Peter,’ he said. ‘I would like to share with Toby so I can look out for him and be his big brother.’

George smiled and said quietly, ‘I think that’s a lovely idea. And we’ll only be in the next room. We can all look out for Toby.’

Peter nodded as well. Henry grinned. Sammy looked as though he was going to cry again and both Jamie and Daniel looked proud. 

Henry stood straight and tall for a few seconds and looked at Toby who was looking back at him.

‘I am going to be the bestest big brother,’ said Henry. ‘I’m going to make sure you’re not on your own.’

The adults all smiled at one another. Even though Mary could not sense what they were feeling, she knew they were all happy.

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it. We will be back to dealing with grown-up stuff in the next story...


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